


Damage Control

by rizascupcakes



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-03-07
Packaged: 2018-01-14 21:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1280008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rizascupcakes/pseuds/rizascupcakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roy sees Riza's scars for the first time since Ishval. Written for Royai week 2013.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Damage Control

Roy Mustang woke slowly to an unfamiliar room. His pillow had gone missing some time during the night, leaving his neck kinked and his face pressed against the bare skin of Riza's back, his arms wrapped around her so tightly he wasn't sure how she could breathe. He frowned and closed his eyes. _Riza's back?_ A knot formed in his stomach as memories of the previous night raced through his mind.

Opening his eyes, he shifted so the faint sunlight streaming through the window behind him illuminated Riza's back. It occurred to him that, in the all the time that had passed since the Ishval, he had never seen it. He might have felt the uneven skin the night before, but his mind had been elsewhere and his eyes as well. She must have moved after he had fallen asleep. The patches of scar tissue looked just as he had expected them to, but he took no pride in this observation; he only allowed himself a sigh of relief that he had done exactly as he had promised and not disfigured her too terribly. Then again, he knew her scars ran so much deeper and no amount of seared flesh could make up for his betrayal; it killed him to know how much he had hurt her. It killed him to know that, even after everything he had already done to her, she had begged him to do this.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, the words catching in his throat as he brushed his lips over her shoulder blade. As he kissed her, Riza stirred slightly. He continued and she squirmed more until Roy realized she was trying to get away. He released her and she sat, turning so her back rested firmly against the headboard. "What's wrong?" When she didn't respond, he sat as well, kicking the covers away from his legs. "Riza," he said gently, resting a hand on her ankle, "please tell me what's wrong."

"I didn't want you to see. You implode when you see the damage you've done and I wanted to protect you. " She met his eyes, her own full of the same pain he'd seen in Ishval, but since then, she hid it so well, he had almost forgotten, and he'd be lying if he said it didn't hurt him too. She placed a hand over his. "But I guess it's too late for that now."

He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. She leaned against his chest and he smoothed her hair. "I already saw it, remember? I'm the one who did it. Now I'm just checking up on your recovery." He loosened his grip on her and she sat up to meet his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"All this time, you could have asked. But you acted like nothing ever happened," she whispered. "I thought you didn't want to know."

"Would you hate me if I said that I didn't?"

She looked down at her hands. "No more than I already do." Roy didn't blame her. _How could I? I betrayed her and she still went through hell for me. She still is_ , he realized, looking down at her sadly.

"Would you like me to leave?"

Tilting her head up, she gave him a faint smile. "If I wanted you to leave, I wouldn't have asked you to come over."

"Consequences be damned?" he asked, running his fingers through her short hair, worried that she might misunderstand him. The rest would weigh on them until they were swallowed up in the earth, but regulations could, at least, be overlooked.

"Just this once," she agreed, pulling him down for a kiss, which he returned eagerly. Her back might have healed but the wounds inside her had yet to scar over, and if this was what she wanted, he had no intention of refusing.


End file.
